Q&A: Three Questions
Three Questions
Question
With God’s help,
Hello Rabbi,
Three questions that are unrelated to one another:
A. The Rabbi often mentions Rabbi Shimon Shkop’s principle regarding a “certain doubt,” as they commonly put it in the yeshivot, in the case of someone who says, “One of your daughters is betrothed to me,” where this is considered betrothal that was not given over for intercourse, etc. Can it be said that this “ambiguous state” is parallel also to Rabbi Shimon’s definition of “from now on, retroactively” in a condition attached to betrothal or divorce?
B. What is the Rabbi’s opinion of Husserl’s philosophy? I recently had occasion to look into it, and it seems to me like a recycling of Descartes’ arguments with slight differences.
C. Sorry for being nosy, but which of the Rabbi’s books does he consider his most important and most significant one? (I know the immediate tendency is to say “they’re all important,” but still.)
Thank you very much for your time.
Answer
A. There is a connection, and I discussed it in the fourth book in the Talmudic Logic series. At least in some places, Rabbi Shimon relates to the state from now until fulfillment or nullification of the condition (or from now until annulment/release of the vow) as a state of logical ambiguity (both-and).
B. I’m not familiar enough with it. In my view it contains important elements (such as eidetic intuition). I definitely do not think it is merely a reworking of Descartes.
C. I don’t know how to answer. It depends on the person and his areas of interest. The most foundational are Two Carts and Truth and Unstable. The philosophical basis is there.